The invention relates to cabs for land vehicles and, more particularly, to a cab construction for use with vehicles having an existing overhead guard.
Severe weather and other environmental conditions can create a need for a fully enclosed cab to protect the operator of a tractor or like machine. Frequently, a tractor is originally built with an overhead guard to provide roll over protection and/or protection from falling objects. U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,081 discloses a cab construction that successfully solves problems attendant with providing a serviceable and cost effective cab structure for certain types of machinery.
An increasingly popular style of tractor is the skid steer loader, hereinafter skid steer, which affords high maneuverability enabling it to be operated in relatively small areas. These skid steers typically have an operator seat in a forward position to provide a view immediately in front of the machine. Also typical of skid steer designs is the location of the lift arms for carrying and lifting a material handling bucket or other implement. The arms extend longitudinally of the machine on both sides of and immediately adjacent the operator station. To ensure against an operator inadvertently extending a hand or limb to the side and into the path of the lift arms, the operator station is equipped with side guards. Normally, the side guards are in the form of a grille that permits vision to the side but prevents extension of a hand or limb to the side. The side grilles generally are fixed to the overhead guard that is part of the original equipment. As a design criteria, a skid steer is a compact machine where little space or clearance is afforded between parts. This characteristic presents difficulties in fitting such a machine with a windshield or side windows.
Besides being economical to construct and easy to install, a cab enclosure should be simple and easy to remove and reinstall where it is used, for example, to protect the operator during seasonal periods only, such as during winter months.
The invention provides a panel arrangement for enclosing the operator station cab of a vehicle that as originally manufactured includes an overhead guard. More specifically, the disclosed panel arrangement can include a combination door and windshield assembly for ingress and egress to the operator station and side window panels for sealing other areas surrounding the operator station. The windshield/door front panel assembly incudes a base panel door jamb that frames the door opening and is adapted to carry a swingable door on associated hinges. The door jamb panel presents a planar face that surrounds the door opening. The door has a peripheral seal, ideally, in the form of an elastomeric weatherstrip that reliably fully contacts the planar surface of the door jamb panel. Preferably, the door is hinged and configured to open with a simple outwardly swinging motion avoiding interference with the original standard parts of the vehicle.
On a typical skid steer the door jamb panel can be configured to lay over the front corner post of the overhead guard and to laterally engage these posts between a pair of integral opposed flanges disposed on the side faces of the posts. The door jamb panel is locked to the corner posts by a plurality of clips bolted or other otherwise secured to the panel plate and interlocking with the corner posts.
Cab side window panels constructed in accordance with the invention take advantage of the existing rigid grille side walls customarily found on the overhead guard of a skid steer. In effect, the side panels of the invention utilize the guard as a support structure thereby avoiding the need to provide the side panels with a separate frame. The side panels, made of clear transparent sheet stock material in one form, are secured to the side grilles with a plurality of screws or like fasteners set into individual blocks extending on the inside face of the grille at strategic locations across the expanse of the side panels. The blocks are proportioned to ensure that the side panel sheets are drawn sufficiently tight against the grille to compress a weatherstrip sealing bead adjacent the perimeter of the panels. The disclosed mounting arrangement provides an adequate seal between the panels and overhead guard and, additionally, provide a simple mounting arrangement that takes up relatively small space in the limited clearance area between the sides of the overhead guard and the lift arms. Moreover, the unique mounting blocks enable the panels to be mounted by a single workman working from the outside of the cab. In a modified form of the side panels, they are arranged to be installed on the inside faces of the side grilles. Further, the side panels can be provided with vent windows or panes for ventilation of the operator station.